Unconditional love.

Unconditional :: not subject to any conditions;

wholehearted, unqualified, unlimited, unquestioning, complete, total, absolute

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

It's possible that I've written this all before, but it's only because I am totally captured by unconditional love - what it is, how Jesus showed us this love, and how we need to show this love to others. The verses above are from 1 Corinthians 13, some of my favourite verses in the bible. I love the description of what love is (we have a plaque of this in our bathroom, and I make a point of reading it every time I am in there), and I love how it says that love is the greatest.

Just recently I was reading a book called "When God Writes Your Love Story", an incredible book, and through it God opened my eyes and challenged me. I have been single since the day I was born, and it is now something that I am very thankful for, as I have had no heartache and have had the chance to have a love story with my Father in Heaven. Through reading the book God challenged me to start loving unconditionally - family and friends, and most importantly, my future husband. I know some people think I am crazy, but I can honestly say that God has started giving me such a love for the man that I do not yet know; and I am now determined to stay single until I meet him. Why? Because I want to be faithful to him and I want to give him my all. I also want to spend these single years working on my character, letting God prepare me for an important relationship, and spend more time getting to know the heart of God. I read this great quote once (can't remember where, or who said it) and it went something like this "A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man should have to seek Him first in order to find her."

That's pretty awesome. And I want that! Sure it is hard, and God constantly has to help me, because like others, I do have a natural desire to be in a relationship, to have a family, to have that companionship; but I have come to the conclusion (which God always has to remind me of) that I would rather be single my entire life and devote every day and year to God rather than be in a string of relationships that don't work out.

That's my thoughts anyway.

Boxing day....

Is chilled.

I'm trying to watch a movie, but I can't hear the TV because dad is vacuuming. Annoying. Who vacuums the house on Boxing Day?!

Christmas 2010

Christmas is once again upon us.

Christmas eve was a flurry of wrapping presents, visiting neighbours, cooking pheasant, and christmas traditions of stories and Polar Express.

Christmas day was a day of presents, laughing at the dog helping us unwrap presents, eating, family, relaxing, eating, coffee, walking, snow, movies; and remembering that above all the reason we celebrate Christmas is because Jesus basically was born so that He could die. And die for us to have freedom. Pretty awesome reason to be celebrating if you ask me.

Merry christmas to all, to family and friends near and far - wish I could be with every one of you!

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree

In Stratford with mom and Dylan before Christmas

Winter icicles

Christmas Eve walk with Dylan

Christmas Eve walk

Skye

Christmas Day tea

Opening presents

Christmas dinner - Turkey, Gammon, Duck, and all the other bits and pieces!

Christmas day walk

CaniX

This post is about a week late, I do realise this, but better late than never, right?

CaniX is my new hobby. It's basically cross country running with your dog. You wear a harness, and your dog wears a harness, and you're both connected with a bungee line. Then you run, and your dog pulls, a bit like sledding but without the sled.

It's a growing sport within the UK and certain European countries; and races in the UK are held in different forests around the country. They are beautiful locations, but often involve travelling great distances.

Our first race was at Cannock Chase, a wonderful Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty located in Stafford. Mom and I headed over there with the dog in a world of white, as snow continued to cover the UK.

Once there I was immediately bitten by the CaniX bug and look forward to the next race.

It snowed the whole time we were there, which was such fun I thought.

The race went a lot better than I thought. My dog was an absolute superstar and ran (and pulled) her heart out. I was so proud of her!

Had a good chat with a lady and her daughter, and their little brown Cocker Spaniel after the race as we cooled down and had a coffee. Something that Skye did that made us laugh was that she was sitting in the car with her jumper on drying off and keeping warm, and she refused to get out of the car. She just sat there watching us have coffee in the snow lol.

Looking forward to the next race!